Clean Power. Clean Signals. Fewer Gremlins.

Building the Dr. ADHD 4-DOF motion simulator is a serious mechanical and electrical project.  The motors are powerful, the currents are high, and the environment is electrically noisy by definition. That’s where most builds quietly struggle.

 

The Hidden Cost of “Just Wiring It Up”
Most builders start with good intentions: terminal blocks, jumper wires, zip ties, maybe a perfboard or two. Then reality sets in.

• Long wire runs become antennas

• High motor currents inject noise into logic lines

• Grounds multiply and loop

• Crosstalk sneaks into feedback signals

• One intermittent fault costs hours—or days—to diagnose
  
  

The simulator still mostly works… until it doesn’t.
That’s when the gremlins show up.

Why Wiring Becomes the Weak Link

Motion simulators are brutal on electronics:

• High di/dt switching motor currents

• Fast PWM edges

• Mixed analog and digital signals

• Sensitive position feedback prone to noise

• USB and serial communications sharing space with power wiring
  
  

Loose wiring, inconsistent grounding, and ad-hoc layouts don’t just look messy—they actively reduce reliability, increase interference, and make debugging exponentially harder.

A Board-Level Approach to Reliability

At energy360.ca, we designed a series of purpose-built circuit boards specifically for the Dr. ADHD 4-DOF ecosystem.

Not generic breakouts.
Not hobby-grade compromises.
Boards designed around how these simulators actually fail.

Our boards are engineered to:

• Control grounding and return paths

• Reduce EMI and crosstalk

• Keep high-current and signal domains properly separated

• Provide repeatable, documented wiring paths

• Eliminate common error-prone hand wiring

• Make troubleshooting obvious instead of mysterious
  
  

The result is a system that is cleaner, quieter, and dramatically easier to maintain.

Fewer Wires. Fewer Errors. Faster Builds.

Using dedicated PCBs means:

• Shorter signal paths

• Consistent connector orientation

• Proper trace widths for real current

• Mechanical strain relief built into the design

• Clean separation of power, logic, and feedback
  
  

When something goes wrong—and eventually something always does—you can diagnose it in minutes instead of chasing it for hours.

Built for Builders Who Want It Done Right

If you enjoy chasing electrical ghosts, improvising fixes, and probing wiring bundles at midnight, you can absolutely keep everything point-to-point.

If you want your simulator to:

• Start every time

• Stay stable under load

• Behave predictably

• Be serviceable months or years later
  
  

…then a board-level approach isn’t a luxury. It’s an efficiency upgrade.